Simon Leads Pack On Contributions From Pacs

May 09, 1990|By Mitchell Locin, Chicago Tribune.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.), an avowed advocate of abolishing political action committees, led all U.S. Senate candidates by raising more than $900,000 in contributions from such committees in a recent 15-month period, the Federal Election Commission said Tuesday.

Simon`s re-election opponent, Rep. Lynn Martin (R-Ill.), was no slouch in raising money from the committees either, ranking 17th out of the 118 Senate incumbents and their challengers by garnering more than $500,000 during the period of Jan. 1, 1989, to March 31, 1990.

Simon has defended his fundraising, saying he has to play the game to remain competitive while trying at the same time to change the rules. Martin, however, has criticized that stance, saying in a recent interview, ``At some point, behavior has to match what you say you believe in.``

Senate candidates raised $83 million in the period, the commission said in a report. The Simon-Martin race played a significant part in those totals, together taking in more than $6.8 million.

More than one-fifth of the total receipts for all Senate races, $19.6 million, came from the controversial political action committees, which comprise people, businesses or groups of a common interest joined for the purpose of contributing to campaigns. The committees may contribute up to $10,000 for the primary and general elections to each candidate.

Simon took in $4.5 million overall, putting him third among all Senate candidates in total receipts, with $903,810, 20 percent, contributed by political action committees.

His spokeswoman, Ellen Golin, denied any inconsistency between his taking such money and his support for eliminating the committees and instituting public financing of general election campaigns for the Senate.

``His position all along has been that the elimination of PACs is an important step on the road to campaign finance reform,`` Golin said. She noted that Martin`s percentage of PAC contributions was higher than Simon`s and added, ``I expect that her PAC numbers are going to go way up by the end of this election.``

Martin, who has supported the concept of PACs, received $2.3 million overall, putting her 11th in total receipts, with $540,335, or 23.5 percent, coming from PACs.

Her spokeswoman, Alisa Parenti, said Simon is ``like the quintessential PAC man. I think people are tired of politicians saying one thing and doing another.``

Most of the remaining contributions for both Simon and Martin came from individual contributors. The two camps each expect to spend about $7 million or more before the campaign concludes on Nov. 6.

On the House side, no challenger spent more during the period studied than Chicago Ald. Edwin Eisendrath (43rd), who received $316,893, in his failed primary bid to unseat Rep. Sidney Yates (D-Ill.), who received $706,004.

In another heated battle, Rep. Gus Savage (D-Ill.) defeated the challenge from Mel Reynolds in the 2nd District even though he received less than Reynolds. The incumbent received $123,885, the loser $187,664.